I decided to repost this powerful piece from Raven at And Rightly So because of its relevance today. It was originally published on 2/24/05.
Raven at And Rightly So is a medical professional who cares for the aged and chronically ill. Although I didn’t ask her, from her commentary on the following “Exit Protocol” (Ravens comments follow the ~ sign) she appears to have some experience in being present when feeding tubes are either removed or “clamped off.” With permission, I’ve reprinted her post on what it’s like to starve to death.
NOTE: If you’re at all squeamish, I suggest you NOT read the following.
This “Exit Protocol” is a recipe for how to kill someone by starvation and dehydration, and then manage their symptoms while they slowly die.
For instance, the nurses will put lip balm on Terri because her lips will crack, peel, and bleed from the dehydration.
~And her mouth will not open after a day or two…the aides will pry it open to do oral care. They’ll do a good job with it though.
They’ll use body lotion because Terri’s skin will begin to break down and show signs of flaking, drying, cracking, or being parched.
~Hopefully they’ll use a nice scented lotion so Terri can have stimulation. The aides will never forget the smell.
They’ll put a “scopolamine patch” behind her ear to enhance the drying up of saliva and other secretions.
~Can you imagine how your mouth would feel?
“Chux pads” will need to be used-and changed quite often because of incontinence of Terri’s bowels and bladder.
~Only for a few days. Then there will be nothing left to void. Ever had a UTI? That’s what it will feel like.
When Terri begins to writhe in pain (multifocal myoclonus) and she becomes agitated from metabolic changes and electrolyte imbalances due to no fluids or nutrition, the attending staff will have to give her 5 to 10 mg of Valium (diazepam)-rectally-every 4 hours.
~Ha. This will only “cure” the movements, not the pain. She will still have tears.
If Terri experiences a Grand Mal seizure, they’ll give her 15 mg of Valium immediately, and then as needed thereafter.
~Ever have a seizure? It’s not fun. And they can kill you.
When her body shows signs of an inability to breathe by gasping for air (dyspnea), they will immediately give Terri 2 to 4 mg of morphine every 4 hours.
~And the morphine will cause her respirations to decline even further, thus aiding in the process of her death.
And all of this will go on for 7 to 10 days…
~Maybe longer.
UPDATE: 3/20/05
Michelle Malkin links to an unbelievable New York Times piece that says starving to death ain’t half bad:
“From the data that is available, it is not a horrific thing at all,” Dr. Linda Emanuel, the founder of the Education for Physicians in End-of-Life Care Project at Northwestern University tells the New York Times. “In fact, declining food and water is a common way that terminally ill patients end their lives, because it is less painful than violent suicide and requires no help from doctors,” the paper maintains. (emphasis added).
This from the newspaper so outraged by the torture of terrorists.
Someone-perhaps Michelle herself-should set the record straight on this.
Cross-Posted at Blogger News Network
3:53 pm
Well, your blog certainly is appropriately titled. How would you suggest putting Ms. Schiavo out of her misery? Oh, wait a minute, I forgot—you guys dig torture so you probably want to keep her alive as long as possible. Here’s the part I don’t get: If you’re a Christian fundie, shouldn’t you be happy that Terri’s going to meet her God? Why would you want to rely on evil, evil, badevil science to prolong her earthly agony?
4:26 pm
First of all, I’m an atheist you miserable excuse for a barking moonbat.
Secondly, it’s hardly “science” that’s keeping her alive, unless you want to call feeding tubes that have been in use since the turn of the 20th century “high tech.”
Third, before you comment on something you obviously know absolutely nothing about (including this blog that revels in the glories of science) please do a little reading on the topic before you make a total ass of yourself.
4:52 pm
Democrats Block Terri Bill
I’m almost without words to describe the f*cked up level of our partisan government if there was a) an advantage for one side to involve Congress in this case in the first place, and b) a party full of opportunists…
5:24 pm
What is it like to starve to death?
I just found this at Right Wing Nuthouse
What is it like to starve to death?
This “Exit Protocol” is a recipe for how to kill someone by starvation and dehydration, and then manage their symptoms while they slowly die.
5:26 pm
I just used an excerpt of your post on my blog- I want to spread word of this throughout the blogosphere with you.
6:36 pm
Another disgusting post from the right wing.
Don’t worry about those inconvient facts, one of which is that TS has no content to her consciousness, therefore has no capacity for suffering.
But, as you have already discovered, she has the capacity for something more useful – being a political tool to advance your religious agenda. Good for you for figuring this out. But may God have mercy on your soul for acting it out.
6:49 pm
I’m not in the mood for your fallacious and ignorant comments.
You’re a “compassion nazi” and if you come back in about an hour you can read my post about people who would rather make a political point knowing full well that Terri is going to have her tube re-inserted and allow her to suffer another day of thirst than stand aside and allow a simple human impulse to be compassionate rule the day.
Even dumb animals with no higher cognitive functions suffer, you bastard. And the fact that you and your kind have started us down a path that, like the Doctor used by attorney Felos in the Terri case advocates, will end up euthanizing people who are SPOON FED.
Perhaps we’ll see a day in our lifetimes when committees will be set up and human beings will have to justify their existence on a yearly basis. If they can’t…Oh well, let’s do the compassionate thing and euthanize them.
If you can’t see that this is the way we’re headed, then I pity you. Because I can think of no one more useless than someone like you; you’re a triple threat…no brains, no soul, and no clue.
6:54 pm
The democrats are the party of death for the innocents.
7:07 pm
Re: “Triple threat”
I love it! But I doubt he’ll get it, he likely can’t even count to three.
7:33 pm
What a sanctimonious suckweasel! Compassion, literally defined, means, “to suffer with another.” That is why I have always found the monopolization of that word by proponents of euthanasia and assisted suicide so discordant. Euthanasia isn’t about suffering with anybody, it’s about using someone’s suffering—and the pity it evokes—as a justification to MURDER.
Hey nitwhit nose doctor, if you’ve bothered to read the Constitution, Congress has the right to rein in the actions of an overzealous branch of the government known as the Judiciary. Yes, I know that George Greer is a state judge, but, if you’ve followed the story, the Florida Legislature has failed in its obligation to protect the life of Terri Schiavo. Besides, this case has national implications now, as euthanasia advocates stand ready to cite Greer’s rulings as precedence to murder more of the “inconvenient” all across the country.
7:57 pm
Well, if you revel in science, perhaps you should read some of it.
Terminal dehydration
8:16 pm
Clicked your link. Here’s a quote:
Evidence indicates that death by terminal dehydration is not painful and that attendant physical discomfort can be adequately alleviated [6-8]. Pain and suffering caused by the underlying disease can be treated by standard palliative measures, including administration of sedation to the level of unconsciousness as a last resort [9].
Sounds a lot like what Raven was talking about above.
Have you ever been present when someone starves to death? The person who wrote most of this post has been present as a health care professional at several of these gruesome death watches. When she talks about the suffering of the victim who are you going to believe? A doctor who might come in the room once or twice a day or the nurses and RNA’s who have to stay by the poor unfortunate’s bedside 24 hours a day and watch them die?
8:31 pm
Murderers on death row who WANT TO DIE can’t even if they wanted too. Yet we are so quick to murder Terri. Why? Because the liberal culture of death loves to exterminate the innocent and hold the guilty in high regard.
9:05 pm
Glorifying murderers like Brian Nichols, who raped and sodomized a woman for 3 days, yet because of the liberal sensitivity, a 5 foot grandmother escorted him to court while he was NOT in handcuffs. Why? Because we don’t want to “influence the jury”. So he overpowers grandma and shoots the judge, the court reporter and little grandma. Yet, he’s an “alleged” perp, even though the whole courtroom witnessed it.
yeah, Lisa, you hit it right on the money.
Their true colors are certainly showing, and the ones who are standing for the culture of death will be remembered come election time, and both sides of the spectrum.
11:07 pm
Thank you for posting that. I am been railing about Terri on my blog for months now. They want to pull this woman out of the arms of her loving mother. It’s a disgrace. And Ted Kennedy weighing in on the Mary Jo Kopechne method of “dying with dignity” is pathetic.
1:05 am
“fallacious and ignorant comments”
Well you know how to step right on up, don’t you.
Let’s examine some of your post for some fallacies. We don’t have to look far.
Comparing TS to an animal: Well, I wouldn’t do that. She is a person, or do you disagree? She is a person with no brain equipment that permits a subjective sense of self. Therefore, she cannot suffer.
You don’t like this fact. It’s not in your interest to examine it. By not doing so you are being disingenuous. That’s OK. The internet is good for nothing if not sophistry.
Your entire “Spoon fed” thing: OK idiot. look up types of fallacies. Have you come across slippery slope yet? No? Keep looking.
1:06 am
Oh yeah, this is not about euthaniasia. Please take some time and actually look up that word in a dictionary. Perhaps then you will understand why it is not apt.
4:48 am
“A subjective sense of self…”
Well, I’m glad that SOMEONE has now come up witha scientific way to measure consciouseness. Whew…I was getting worried that nobody would EVER figure that one out.
Don’t be daft. The major problem here (and it’s pretty obvious “ignorant” was an apt characterization of the state of your knowledge on this issue)is that the tests needed to determine whether or not Terri is PVS HAVE NOT BEEN DONE!
This from Father Robert Johansen on what 45 board certified neurologists have said:
Terri?s diagnosis was arrived at without the benefit of testing that most neurologists would consider standard for diagnosing PVS. One such test is MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). MRI is widely used today, even for ailments as simple as knee injuries ? but Terri has never had one. Michael has repeatedly refused to consent to one. The neurologists I have spoken to have reacted with shock upon learning this fact. One such neurologist is Dr. Peter Morin. He is a researcher specializing in degenerative brain diseases, and has both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Boston University.
In the course of my conversation with Dr. Morin, he made reference to the standard use of MRI and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans to diagnose the extent of brain injuries. He seemed to assume that these had been done for Terri. I stopped him and told him that these tests have never been done for her; that Michael had refused them.
There was a moment of dead silence.
?That?s criminal,? he said, and then asked, in a tone of utter incredulity: ?How can he continue as guardian? People are deliberating over this woman?s life and death and there?s been no MRI or PET?? He drew a reasonable conclusion: ?These people [Michael Schiavo, George Felos, and Judge Greer] don?t want the information.?
So shut your yap, read, and learn something before you start talking about things that you’re only guessing at. Unless you want to try and convince the rest of us that you not only understand what conciousness is, but that you can determine, like the Doctor with ties to the Hemlock society can, without the proper tests what exactly is the state of Terri’s mind and what are the prospects for rehab.
7:46 pm
Superhawk has by far given the most hilarious comments. Feeding tubes aren’t a crutch for life given by the wonders of science! Nope, I was born with a feeding tube! they’re completely natural! They aren’t made from plastic, they grow right in nature! My family used to pick them and sell them to tourists!
8:26 pm
Have any of your people looked at Terri’s CAT scans? If you have you would notice that she doesn’t have a brain. In order for a doctor to do an MRI to look for brain activity there has to be a brain that has activity. And as for comparing her to an animal (we wouldn’t starve a dog like that) you are absolutly correct! Had Terri been a dog she would have been painlessly euthanised long before now. This “Cult of Life” I’ve seen lately in the news scares the hell out of me. I’m so glad that my families madical crises have not made national news or garnered the attention of a Bush.
2:45 pm
SS: I was responding to a commenter who said Terri was relying on “evil bad science” to remain alive.
My point is very simple…which is why it went over your head. A feeding tube is no more “extraordinary life support” than a tongue depresser.
And to judge: Where did this fallacy about Terri having no brain start? I’ve read moonbat stories about Terri’s brain being “liquefied.” This is nuts. A cursory look at the CAT scan found in the link below and an examination by a competent neurologist, shows that Terri’s brain is not atrophied:
The physician, Dr. Boyle, found what may be one view of Terri’s CT scan performed in 1996 and which has apparently posted at University of Miami Ethics program website. Dr. Boyle has read at least 10,000 CT scans and he concludes, in part:
I HAVE SEEN MANY WALKING, TALKING, FAIRLY COHERENT PEOPLE WITH WORSE CEREBRAL/CORTICAL ATROPHY. THEREFORE, THIS IS IN NO WAY PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE THAT TERRI SCHIAVO’S MENTAL ABILITIES OR/OR CAPABILITIES ARE COMPLETELY ERADICATED. I CANNOT BELIEVE SUCH TESTIMONY HAS BEEN GIVEN ON THE BASIS OF THIS SCAN.
http://caosblog.com/archives/2005/03/22/terris-ct-scan-from-a-physician/
Why not read something besides Democratic talking points. You might learn something.
7:29 pm
I did read something besides the talking points. I’ve read the entire case from first summons and complaint to the latest filing in the 11th circuit. Have YOU read anything besides what you obtained off the web?
7:39 pm
I wouldn’t exactly beleive what Dr. Boyle says either. That is not a shunt in Terri Schiavo’s CT scan.
5:28 am
what’s it like to starve to death?
This is from Raven as my heart is aching because it is relevant and I wish it weren’t. Rightwing Nuthouse posted it over at his place.
Raven at And Rightly So is a medical professional who cares for old and sick people. She has experience and ha…
12:22 pm
Raven’s website is nice, but it has nothing to do with MRS. Schiavo’s CT scan.
My grandmother died last year from dehydration. She stopped eating and refused to drink anything. She would drift in and out of consiousness. I spent everyday with her during the last two weeks of her life begging her to eat somthing. I would ask her constantly if she was hungry. She always said no. Her skin was so thin the nurses could not put an I.V. in to hydrate her. She fought any help the nurses tried to give her. It was actually kind of funny to watch my granmother who weighed maybe 100 lbs. smacking the 250 phlabotimist and calling him a vampire whenever her tried to do a blood draw. She called those family who were there and told us “no more! You need to let me go!” I held her hand when she took her last breath.
No body questioned her descision. None of the nurses quesiton the families descision. In the state I live in it would have been extreamly easy to desclare her incompetent and override her choices, but we didn’t.
What people are having such a hard time with is that Terri was in the “prime” of her life when this tragedy struck. She is young an very photogenic so its easy to get emotionally invovled.
Two years before I had to make that same type of descision for my firstborn daughter. It was much easier to let my grandmother go than my daughter. You don’t want to give up hope. But letting them die is not giving up hope it is saying I love you enough to say gooby even though it hurts more than anything in the world.
Terri schiavo’s parents scare me. Thier testimony in the first trial was frightening. Her father would cut off her limbs to keep her alive. And her mother testified that she didn’t care if Terri had a written directive she would fight to keep her “alive” anyway. That is not the aurguments of two people who have Terri’s best intrests in mind. They are treating Terri like she is a golden calf and worshipping at her beside.
I know this post is going to ilicit some angry responses. Keep in mind that I hav not once called anyof you any names, yet you cannot refrain from doing the same to me. I am not a “compassion Nazi” whatever that means. What I am ,besides being in the leagal proffesion, is a councilor for a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. While I usually help those whose infants have entered the world too early (All five of my children did, only one is living.) or under distress, I sometimes council those whose older children have been injured.
It is always harder to even think of disconnecting a child from life support, than a elderly adult. Call it agism if you will, but it seems to fit better with how people view the natural order of things.
1:17 pm
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